At 8:30 a.m., NYC Public Advocate/mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio speaks about “his plans to create good jobs in all five boroughs and reduce income inequality across the city,” The New School, 6 East 16th St., Wolff Conference Room, 11th floor, Manhattan.

At 10 a.m., the Madison County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the casino/land claims deal Cuomo struck with the Oneida Indian Nation. (County office building, North Court Street, Wampsville).

At 11 a.m., Rep. Dan Maffei will discuss the future of Interstate 81 at Forman Park, East Genesee Street, Syracuse.

At 12:30 p.m., US Sen Chuck Schumer and US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announce a major investment in transportation infrastructure, 11th Ave, Between 30th and 33rd streets, Manhattan.

At 3:30 p.m., Rep. Charlie Rangel announces his endorsement of NYC Councilman Robert Jackson for Manhattan BP and joins United Federation of Teachers leaders and members to rally in support of his campaign; steps of City Hall, Manhattan.

At 4 p.m., campaign finance reform advocates and WFP members rally outside IDC member/Sen. Diane Savino’s Brooklyn office (2872 West 15th St.), calling for a public campaign finance bill to be brought to the floor for a vote.

Headlines…

CSEA has launched a statewide radio ad campaign against Tax-Free NY, calling it a “giveaway” to businesses.

More details emerged on the proposal. Eligible sites would not only include the 64 SUNY campuses outside NYC and some private universities north of Westchester, but also 20 state “assets” like closed prisons or hospitals.

The Watertown Times likes Tax-Free NY, but thinks Cuomo could “deliver one more piece of even better news for the upstate economy if he would approve fracking for natural gas.”

Newsday on Tax-Free NY: “The plan can’t hurt. It doesn’t cost anything to try. It could create jobs. But the execution must be done well.”

Bloomberg and his Mayors Against Illegal Guns group received threatening letters laced with the deadly chemical ricin that made reference to the gun control debate.

Former Assemblywoman Janele Hyer-Spencer, a close ally of Speaker Sheldon Silver, has quietly left a job at the state Education Department for an even higher-paying one in state Family Court.

Zenaida Mendez, president of the state chapter of the National Organization For Women, slammed Cuomo for claiming to push a women’s equality agenda while considering a plan to legalize violent MMA in New York.

The state is aggressively battling an East Village espresso shop for its misuse of the iconic “I (heart) NY” logo.

The Working Families Party wants a state judge to penalize Staten Island DA Dan Donovan, who called for a special prosecutor to investigate the WFP, for undermining his own request for secrecy by leaking portions of documents that were blocked from public release to the news media.

The state Senate Wednesday sent Cuomo legislation renaming a road that traverses Woodstock in honor of Levon Helm, the Grammy-winning dummer and singer who helped to give the iconic rock group The Band its distinctive sound.

A massive online learning program is being embraced today by 10 large public university systems, including the State University of New York.

A new report found New York spends $7 billion a year in incentives to lure and keep businesses, but doesn’t adequately oversee how the money is spent.